KITCHENS in Edinburgh hotels are named among the UK’s worst for hygiene breaches amid plans for food safety credentials to be displayed throughout all Scottish eateries.

Consumer watchdog Which? has found that more than 650 hotels and guesthouses received a hygiene rating of poor by regulators – with nearly one in three venues based in Scotland.

Of the 208 Scots hotels that require improvement, according to the Food Standards Agency, Edinburgh was the worst performer, with 26 outlets falling foul of the required level.

Read more: Herald View - Businesses should be made to display food hygiene rating

Only four Glasgow hotels were named on the list.

The Scots hotels with low hygiene ratings but high star customer rankings include the luxury Scotsman Hotel, which was placed in liquidation in July; the four-star Aberdeen Marriott Hotel and the four-star Hilton Edinburgh Carlton.

It comes as Food Standards Scotland confirmed plans to force hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets and cafes to display their food hygiene credentials.

According to the latest NFU Mutual food hygiene ratings report, around half of customers would turn away from the doors of food outlets if they displayed a poor hygiene rating. It comes five months after Food Standards Agency (FSA) figures revealed one in seven UK takeaways had failed food hygiene inspections.

Read more: Herald View - Businesses should be made to display food hygiene rating

It was found that almost 30,000 eateries failed checks, including more than 7,000 takeaways and 8,000 restaurants.

And the second worst area in the UK was Edinburgh, where more than 38 per cent of takeaways failed checks and 26 per cent of restaurants.

Ten per cent of establishments in Scotland were given a failing grade (improvement required), compared with six per cent in England, five per cent in Wales, and two per cent in Northern Ireland.

Reasons for restaurant and takeaway failures included filthy kitchens, infestations of rodents and cockroaches, cross-contamination of cooked and raw ingredients and storing food at unsafe temperatures.

Which? suggests outlets should have to display food hygiene ratings, not just outside their premises but on their websites.

Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “Around nine in 10 of us eat at least one meal in our overnight accommodation so it’s vital that hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses have high standards of food hygiene. We know that displaying the rating outside the premises encourages higher standards, which is why we support the FSA case for a compulsory display scheme for the whole of the UK.”

Read more: Herald View - Businesses should be made to display food hygiene rating

A Food Standards Scotland spokesman said: “We strongly encourage food businesses to display their food hygiene information scheme certificate and/or sticker publicly in their premises, although this is not compulsory.”

The ratings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland require local authorities to rank food providers with scores from five, which means the food hygiene standards are very good, down to zero, where urgent improvement is necessary.

Scotland awards a grade of “pass and eat” to premises that exceed legal hygiene requirements; “pass” to those that are broadly compliant; and “improvement required”.